Wednesday 28 February 2018

Book Review - The Woman at 72 Derry Lane by Carmel Harrington - #HolidayReading Book 15

Book 15 of 30 that I read on my holiday to Fuerteventura in December 2017

Amazon UK
Title: The Woman at 72 Derry Lane
Author: Carmel Harrington
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Harper 
Publication Date: 16th November 2017
Rating: 5 Stars

On a leafy suburban street in Dublin, beautiful, poised Stella Greene lives with her successful husband, Matt. The perfect couple in every way, Stella appears to have it all. Next door, at number 72 however, lives Rea Brady. Gruff, bad-tempered and rarely seen besides the twitching of her net curtains, rumour has it she’s lost it all…including her marbles if you believe the neighbourhood gossip.

But appearances can be deceiving and when Stella and Rea’s worlds collide they realise they have much in common. Both are trapped in a prison of their own making.

Has help been next door without them realising it?

Proving once again that Carmel Harrington is the queen of the thought provoking emotional read, this book is unputdownable, but equally quite tough reading in places. 

It follows three different stories, although it take a while for the one involving Skye to become apparent how it links up with neighbours Rea and Stella. 

All three of these amazing leading ladies, are dealing with something big. It is only fair to warn that themes included in this book include abuse, agoraphobia and the Boxing Day Tsunami, which may affect your responses to the various characters. 

I thought they were all rather brave, learning to face fears, and it becomes apparent how imporant just small acts of kindness can be to a person. 

I read this in an afternoon, barely pausing for breath, and was hooked on the superb emotional writing, impressive descriptions, and general connections I felt with all three ladies. 

This really is another example of Carmel Harrington at her best, and I am just wondering how long it will be before this book becomes a film, as I think it certainly would make a compelling hard hitting drama to watch too, as well as read. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

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